HPEBIOS cmdlets 2.1.0.1: Object reference not set to an instance of an object

Hi,

We have been using HPEBIOS CmdLets quite extensively on our Gen10 servers. In most cases it works just fine, but on some we get the "Object reference not set to an instance of an object" error on any HPEBIOS Set cmdlet, although HPEBIOS Get cmdlets work just fine. Some times a simple reboot fixes the issue, but in others multiple reboots, cold boots and lot of waiting is needed.

As you can see, the Get-HPEBIOSWorkloadProfile worked just fine but Set-HPEBIOSWorkloadProfile returned the "Object reference not set to an instance of an object" error.

This doesn't seem to make any sesne. We are seeing this perhaps every 6th or 7th server (mostly DL380 Gen10) and since we provision several servers evey week, we do see this issue a lot. Is anyone else encountering this issue?

Re: HPEBIOS cmdlets 2.1.0.1: Object reference not set to an instance of an object

This also occurs on the ML350 Gen10 models I believe, because my techs have reported that model to me as well, although the quantities are minimal.

The majority of the Gen10 servers we are currently configuring are just firmware and ILO settings, no BIOS settings - so this issue hasn't been that critical for us recently.

I have messaged Rajesh on this issue but he has not replied back yet, they are usually pretty busy.

The gen9 models worked perfectly and still do.

Have you tried the HPE Redfish commands from the HPE Powershell Gallery to try and set? When I used that to trouble shoot, it gave me a more clear "reboot needed" error. Maybe this time it would give a more verbose error message telling you what the exact issue. I don't have any new servers at the moment to test this on.

Re: HPEBIOS cmdlets 2.1.0.1: Object reference not set to an instance of an object

Have you tried the HPE Redfish commands from the HPE Powershell Gallery to try and set? When I used that to trouble shoot, it gave me a more clear "reboot needed" error. Maybe this time it would give a more verbose error message telling you what the exact issue. I don't have any new servers at the moment to test this on.

No, I haven't really used HPE Redfish. Would you have an exmaple how to get that "reboot needed" data?

Re: HPEBIOS cmdlets 2.1.0.1: Object reference not set to an instance of an object

HPERedfishCmdlets can be installed from the PowerShell gallery by executing the cmdlet

Install-Module HPERedfishCmdlets

Modifying the WorkloadProfile requires a system reboot. You could try the following script to modify the WorkloadProfile using HPERedfishCmdlets. This script also resets the server and prints the value of the WorkloadProfile setting after reboot.

Re: HPEBIOS cmdlets 2.1.0.1: Object reference not set to an instance of an object

HPERedfishCmdlets can be installed from the PowerShell gallery by executing the cmdlet

Modifying the WorkloadProfile requires a system reboot. You could try the following script to modify the WorkloadProfile using HPERedfishCmdlets. This script also resets the server and prints the value of the WorkloadProfile setting after reboot.

The variable $msg1 in the above script would have the details if the system reboot is needed on the setting change.

Thank you,

Vijay Bhojwani

Thanks, I shall test that.

Another thing that I noticed is that when reboot or cold boot doesn't help, shutting down and removing power cables does help.

Re: HPEBIOS cmdlets 2.1.0.1: Object reference not set to an instance of an object

Have you had a chance to test the steps provided to see if there are any more details provided by the redfish cmdlets?

Hi,

So I tested your redfish script against a server which was getting that "Object reference not set to an instance of an object" error and it did indeed work. It did change the workload profile correctly. However, when trying to run the HPEBIOS cmdlets after that, including the reset, I was still getting the same error.

So it seem like there is something wrong within the HPEBIOS module, since the redfish module is able to do the same thing without any issues.